SB2221eng 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB2221 Engrossed LRB093 15877 RCE 41494 b

AN ACT concerning economic development.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Small Business Advisory Act is amended by changing Section 10 as follows:

(20 ILCS 692/10)

Sec. 10. Small business advisory web pages site.

(a) Within 6 months after the effective date of this Act, each Agency must create and make available on the World Wide Web a small business advisory page.

(b) Each agency that (i) has adopted or is preparing to adopt any rule affecting small businesses or (ii) is designated to administer legislation affecting small businesses that has become law must prepare and post on its small business advisory web page a plain language explanation of the rule or legislation. The explanation must indicate the effective date of the rule or legislation. The explanation must remain posted for a minimum of 6 months after the effective date of the rule or legislation. Agencies shall consult with the Department and small businesses in developing uniform web page standards.

If a rule has been proposed but not adopted, an explanation of the rule must be posted as soon as possible in order to allow input and comment from affected small businesses. The State agency must, in addition to posting a plain language explanation of the rule, post notice of the time, date, and place of any public hearings, together with the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the agency rulemaking contact; what must be done by members of the public who wish to provide testimony on the rulemaking; and the names and Springfield and district office addresses and telephone numbers of the members of the Joint Committee.

(c) When each agency updates its small business advisory web page, it shall notify the Department. The Department, through its First Stop Business Information Center, shall serve as a central clearinghouse notifying the small business community of each agency's rulemakings and changes in requirements. Furthermore, the Department shall seek input from the small business community on the changes and inform the appropriate agency and where applicable, the Joint Committee, of the input.

The Department, as a part of its clearinghouse function, shall maintain a central small business advisory web page that shall serve as a coordinated point of access to all agencies' business advisory web pages.

(Source: P.A. 93-318, eff. 1-1-04.)